‘Take teachings of celeb ustaz with pinch of salt’
KUALA LUMPUR: Muslims must be wary of religious teachings by various “celebrity ustaz” to ensure that they do not become disseminators of unverified information, a religious expert said yesterday.
“Take the words of these ‘celebrity ustaz’, who became overnight social media sensations, with a pinch of salt as they may also be purveyors of fake news,” said Dr Farid Ravi Abdullah in a Bicara BH forum on cyberslander yesterday.
He said some Islamic teaching interpretations, including the hadith by these “ulama” were questionable, and could cause conflict and instability in society.
“(For example) There is one particularly troublesome and viral hadith that promises women a golden umbrella in paradise if they allow their husbands to remarry. It has become so viral that some have been taken in by it.”
Farid said he had contacted religious experts from as far as India and Pakistan, but could not verify the truthfulness of the hadith.
“I called up some ulama in India and Pakistan, who told me that there is no such thing, even in Hindi,” he said.
Farid said as a rough guide, any hadith which gave happiness and advantage to one side, while at the same time, cause disadvantage to another party should be viewed with scepticism.
He said the best way for Muslims to verify such matter was to consult those more knowledgeable on the subject which, in this case, were experts in the hadith.
“Interpreting hadith is no easy task. It takes years of study and research. The ulama in ancient times took hundreds of years to interpret the messages of the Prophet.”
The International Islamic University College Selangor’s centre of graduate studies director said it was worrying that with the availability of social media, people did not think twice when it came to sharing unverified news and teachings.
“People easily accept and trust whatever they get on the Net without verifying them first.”
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi recently urged religious authorities to not only monitor printed materials on Islam, but also other mediums to curb the spread of false hadith.
He reportedly said a lot of invalid hadith were being spread through various channels, which needs to be stopped.